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Working on a niche market to go beyond standard demands: Ikunico, star of the CNA Storie of the Month, is a made-in-Italy leather goods company on the outskirts of Gubbio and has made customization its calling card. “Customization gives us the opportunity to work on product quality,” says Rita Baldinelli, who with her husband Giuseppe passed the baton to Jacopo in 2017. Today he is running the business. Behind the scenes they, the parents and founders, who as family collaborators support Jacopo in the aspect of marketing and business strategies.
The choice of raw material
The choice of material and themes is an integral part of the process: “We have always looked for quality materials, which moreover are sustainable, because they are biodegradable,” Rita explains. “The leather we process comes from a Tuscan consortium. It is a leather tanned exclusively with vegetable extracts. These are non-toxic, biodegradable leathers. It’s a type of leather that gets better and better as it ages,” Rita emphasizes with satisfaction.
These are nontoxic, biodegradable leathers. It is a type of leather that as it ages becomes more and more beautiful
The link with the territory
Gubbio is now a hub of excellence that has not escaped brands of Cucinelli’s caliber. Rita is a former public employee who after 30 years in the business decided to quit her job to follow her husband Giuseppe, a craftsman. Today Rita and Giuseppe keep one foot in the company. The strong connection with the territory is also evidenced by the choice of subjects, a symbol of Ikunico’s production. In fact, the themes of the skins worked by Ikunico are inspired by “eugubine” tables. Explains Rita, “These are seven bronze plates preserved in the Palazzo dei Consoli, here in Gubbio. We took up these signs that represent the civilization of the people from Umbria. They date back to a period from the first to the third century B.C.” The plates were found around 400 A.D. “We were inspired by these plates because they are very evocative, with their appeal to magical signs. They have become our hallmark: we chose extracts and imprint them on our leather.”
The themes of the leathers processed by Ikunico are inspired by the Eugubine tablets
Personalized and sought after in the world
Customization is the strong point that has enabled Ikunico to make a name for itself outside the country’s borders. “We mainly work on our e-commerce channel. The end user can order our products through the site,” Rita explains. “In the foreign market we have representation in America, Japan, and the Netherlands, among others. The referrers are firms that require personalized corporate gifts and products, which follow the customer’s requests.”
Sustainability and social commitment
In the selection and recovery of materials, Ikunico plays its game with sustainability, reusing processing waste for small leather goods. And it has always been committed to social work. “We work with the social services of the municipality, placing young people who have difficulties in the company, and at the end of their paths we become friends.”
Meeting with CNA
Ikunico is a family business that has always found great support in CNA to overcome adversity and obstacles. “We have been associated with CNA since 2020,” Rita explains. We have always found competent people who have pointed out interesting projects to us. After all, throughout our history we have had several transitions: we have always invented ourselves. Behind it is the passion for the work, which we transferred to Jacopo. We give it our all.”
